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Updated August 8th, 2021 at 11:35 IST

'Covishield mixed with Covaxin dose is safe & shows better immunogenicity': ICMR

ICMR on Sunday, revealed that mixing of India's two vaccines - Covishield and Covaxin was safe and showed better results, aiding to counter vaccine hesitancy

ICMR, Covaxin
IMAGE: PTI/AP | Image:self
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In a massive breakthrough for India's vaccination program, ICMR on Sunday, revealed that mixing of India's two COVID vaccines - Covishield and Covaxin was safe and showed better results. In a study titled, 'Serendipitous COVID-19 Vaccine-Mix in Uttar Pradesh', ICMR study eighteen individuals who inadvertently received Covishield as the first jab and Covaxin as the second under the national immunisation program. The team found that those who received a mix of the vaccines had higher immunity against all COVID variants - Alpha, Beta and Delta.

ICMR: Mixing Covishield and Covaxin shows better immunogenicity

As the Centre expanded its vaccination target to include all above 18 years and increased the gap between two Covishield doses to 12 weeks, a group of Covishield recipients in Uttar Pradesh inadvertently received Covaxin as their second dose. Comparing those eighteen subjects (11 male, 7 female) to 40 people who had received two doses of Covishield and 40 who had received two doses of Covaxin, the team observed the effect of the vaccines after nine weeks. The team found that all three group had minimal adverse reactions after two doses.

The results showed that those who received a mix of vaccines (an adenovirus vector platform-based vaccine followed by an inactivated whole virus vaccine) elicited better immunogenicity than two doses of using the same vaccines. "It is observed that the neutralizing NAbs were 1.25, 3.95 and 1.30 fold reduced in the heterologous (mix dose) group for Alpha, Beta and Delta. Similarly the NAb were reduced homologous Covishield [1.33, 3.9, and 2.74], homologous Covaxin [1.4, 2.45, and 2.08] for Alpha, Beta and Delta," said the study. ICMR stated that this study, which is first of its kind, will remove hesitancy around vaccines in people’s minds.

On July 29, an expert panel for the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) allowed to conduct studies on mixing doses of the COVID-19 vaccines Covaxin and Covishield. The approval also includes analysis of the mixed doses of Bharat Biotech's Covaxin and a nasal vaccine candidate, as well as the trial of the Biological E's COVID-19 jabs for the kids. The application for the dosage mixing regime study for India’s domestically manufactured Covishield and Covaxin was submitted to the Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore on 300 healthy volunteers.

India's vaccination drive

After the rollback of the decentralized vaccine procurement policy, the Centre has started procuring 75% of the vaccine stock and distributing it to the states for free from June 21 onwards. Without giving a specific deadline, the Centre has hinted that all adults might be vaccinated by December 2021. A total of 50,59,79,149 persons have been inoculated whereas 11,12,25,199 of them have received the second dose of the vaccine too. ICMR has assured that both Covishield and Covaxin are effective against the prevalent Delta and Delta plus variant. 

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Published August 8th, 2021 at 11:35 IST

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